Information for Travelers to Pago Pago, American Samoa

Government

American Samoa is officially the Territory of American Samoa, a territory of the United States. It is, however, an unincorporated and unorganized territory and as such it lies outside the US Customs area and the organic act does not apply to land.

The territory is administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of Interior. The President of the United States is the head of state.

A governor is elected locally and manages the Administrative branch of government. There are twelve cabinet members. The Governor can veto legislation but the Department of Interior has veto override privileges.

The legislature is bicameral and is locally referred to as the Fono. Members of the House of Representatives are elected by each district. Members of the Senate are selected by the village councils, not by popular election.

The court system consists of the High Court and District Court. The High Court is administered by the Chief Justice or Associate Chief Justices. The District Court is administered by the High Court which appoints District Court Judges. In both courts, the presiding judge is accompanied on the bench by at least one Samoan Associate Judge, usually two. Jury trials are available at the pleasure of the Chief Justice.

American Samoa elects a representative to the US House of Representatives. The Representative from American Samoa has most rights of other Representatives but cannot vote on the floor of the house. The Representative can serve on committees, vote at the committee level and even be a committee chair. They can submit and sponsor bills and resolutions for legislative action.

This site is a community effort to bring quality information on American Samoa to the traveling public and to give the local tourism stakeholders an opportunity to participate. We welcome your input and invite you to gain full editing access to selected parts of the site. To learn more about how to get involved, contact us.